Gun seized by police reported stolen

By
Erica Johnston

An Alexandria man has been arrested in an incident in which a gun seized by an officer during a traffic stop was later reported to police as stolen, Prince William County police said.

County police said that an officer who made a traffic stop Friday night on Bixby Road in Dale City found a gun in a passenger’s waistband. The passenger shoved the officer and fled, police said, but the officer, Brandon Couch, got the gun.

On Saturday, police said, a second officer, Joshua Pafford, took a report of a stolen gun. Police said the gun was recognized as the one that was found Friday night.
On Sunday, police said, as part of their investigation, the two officers went to an address in Woodbridge. A man standing out front ran inside, and the officers followed him, police said.

County police said Robert Steven Barnes, 28, of the 300 block of S. Pitt Street in Alexandria was charged with filing a false police report, resisting arrest and carrying a concealed weapon.

Let me "break it down" for you. At a traffic stop, an officer found a gun in the passengers waistband during a pat down. The passenger shoved the officer and ran away, but the officer recovered the gun. The same passenger (Robert Barnes) reported the gun stolen the next day. When the Police realized the passenger and Barnes were one and the same they went to his house. He saw them, ran inside, and they followed and arrested him. Simple.